The way the Palmerton football team has scored touchdowns the last couple of seasons, finding a reliable kicker to handle conversions was a priority for head coach Chris Walkowiak during the offseason.

That’s because the Blue Bombers didn’t have a returning kicker on this year’s projected roster. It’s also because the Bombers weren’t extremely successful kicking extra points a year ago, converting kicks on just 23 of 70 touchdowns.

“I wanted to be able to turn around and talk to players on the sideline when we were kicking conversions because I was confident that they would be routine and dependable,” explained Walkowiak. “I didn’t want to have to worry about something going wrong on every kick we attempted.”

To find a kicker, Walkowiak turned to another fall sport (hint: it’s the one you would expect). The player he found was a key member of the team (hint: it’s not the team you would expect).

This week’s Overtime column will look at Palmerton’s first-year kicker, and how that player has helped Walkowiak feel at ease turning around and talking to his offensive and defensive teams on the sideline when the kicking team is on the field.

In addition, Rod Heckman will once again take a look at some of the top team and individual performances from last week and find some historical references to go with them. Heckman’s research this week includes information on Marian shutouts, a Northwestern scoring streak, and a long Tamaqua kickoff return.

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When Walkowiak decided he needed to find a kicker for this season, he remembered a conversation he had with a former Bomber kicker.

“Jonathan Perloni was a really good kicker for us two years,” recalled Walkowiak. “I remembered one conversation I had with him where he said ‘if you think I have a strong leg, you should see my sister.’”

So Walkowiak decided he should see Jonathan’s sister kick - and he didn’t have to go far. Samantha “Sam” Perloni is a senior defender for the Palmerton girls soccer team.

It didn’t take Walkowiak long to decide Jonathan was right ... his sister can kick.

“After watching Sam at a couple of workouts, it was obvious that she would be able to help us,” said Walkowiak. “I couldn’t be happier about how things have worked out. Her primary sport is obviously soccer, but Sam is an extremely dedicated athlete with a great work ethic.

“She makes it a point to get to our practices whenever she can - even if its just 15-30 minutes at the end of our practice after she has finished soccer. We kind of tailor our special team practices around when she can make it, and it’s worked out very well.”

So far this season, Perloni has hit 17-of-24 conversions she has attempted. It’s a number that is deceiving, according to Walkowiak.

“We had some personnel issues earlier in the year with our kicking team that impacted Sam being able to get off kicks and us even attempting to kick the ball,” he explained. “When everything has been right around her, she has been extremely accurate with her kicks.

“I have all the confidence in the world in her. We are at a point now, that when we score, we are going to kick the ball without a doubt.”

Perloni is coming off her best game of the season one week ago in Palmerton’s 51-7 victory over Salisbury. In the game, Perloni was 6-for-6 on extra points and also added a 22-yard field goal.

“I probably started playing soccer when I was four or five-years-old,” explained Perloni. “So, I’ve been kicking soccer balls a pretty long time, and I feel like I have a pretty strong leg. But I had never kicked a football before - not even fooling around with friends. So it was something totally new for me.”

Perloni said she thought about playing football a year ago, but changed her mind. This summer, however, she decided to give it a try.

“To be honest, I was a little scared - because it is football,” Perloni said with a slight laugh. “But after thinking about it, I gave coach Walkowiak a call and told him I’d like to give it a try - and I’m really glad I did. I’ve had so much support from the football team, the soccer team, the coaches of both teams ... It’s been great.”

One of the many reasons why it has been such a fun fall sports season for Perloni is that both teams have been extremely successful.

The girls soccer team is currently 15-2 and ranked second in Class 2A in District 11, while the football team is 5-2 and ranked fourth in Class 3A in the district.

Perloni has been a major contributor to the success of both teams.

In soccer, she is in her third year as a starting defender. In addition to solidifying the Bombers’ back line, she has scored a pair of goals - something that high school defenders don’t do too often. In football, her 20 points this season include kicking a field goal last week - something that high school kickers don’t do too often.

So which one of those accomplishments was more exciting - scoring a goal in soccer or kicking a field goal in football?

“That’s a tough a question,” Perloni said. “They were both pretty exciting ... I don’t know if I could pick one over the other.

“What I will say is that I’m just thrilled I had the opportunity to do both. It’s been a really fun fall sports season.”

While Peloni couldn’t decide which accomplishment was more exciting, the excitement in her voice was an obvious indication of what her proudest moment was this season.

“I was credited with an assist on a tackle during a kickoff,” she said. “That’s something I never thought I’d be able to say.”

Walkowiak said when they decided Perloni was their best option for kickoffs as well as extra points, they made sure she went through drills on the fundamentals of how to tackle correctly in case the situation would ever arise.

Perloni - who has kicked off a total of 51 times this season - saw that opportunity present itself three weeks ago against Notre Dame.

“Their returner broke free along the sideline, and I realized I was the last person in front of him,” Perloni recalled. “I just tried to remember what I was taught.

“I went for his legs and I hit him, he stumbled, and I rolled on the ground. It probably didn’t look pretty, but I slowed him down enough so that a couple of our guys chasing from behind were able to bring him down. The coaches gave me an assisted tackle on the play. That was a pretty proud moment for me - probably one that I’ll remember for a long time.”

Perloni’s contributions to Palmerton’s success on both the soccer field and football field this fall have been plentiful - and with both teams having already locked up postseason berths - the best could still be ahead for Perloni and her two sets of Bomber teammates.

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SHUTOUTS FOR STAN

... Longtime Marian head coach Stan Dakosty gained a shutout victory on Saturday against Shenandoah Valley.

It was the 82nd time a Dakosty-led team didn’t allow its opponent any points.

Here are some shutout notes involving the Colts’ mentor:

• Dakosty has had shutouts against 33 different schools.

• The most shutouts Dakosty has are against Mahanoy Area with 11. The next most is eight against both Tamaqua and Panther Valley.

• One of the shutouts was a tie game, 0-0, against Line Mountain in 1978.

• The most shutouts he’s had in one season is six, which came in 1993 when Marian blanked Columbia, Blue Mountain, Exeter, Hanover, North Schuylkill and Tamaqua.

• In the 82 shutouts, his teams have outscored their opponents 2,468-0. The average amount of points the Colts have scored in shutout games is 30.1.

• During the same time frame Dakosty has earned 82 shutouts, his teams have only been shut out 25 times.

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NO SHUTOUTS FOR NW

... Northwestern outscored Pottsville last Friday, using a fourth-quarter touchdown run from Cade Christopher to gain a 41-35 victory.

Besides improving to 6-1, the contest also allowed the Tigers to set a new school record. When Christopher reached the end zone in the first quarter, it marked the 60th straight game that Northwestern wasn’t shut out. That broke the mark of 59 the program had from 2012-17. The last time the Tigers were blanked was Sept. 8, 2017 by Palisades.

Among Times News area schools, there are five all-time best streaks longer than Northwestern’s. They include Jim Thorpe’s 68 (from 2001-07), Marian’s 66 (from 1979-84), Tamaqua’s 65 (from 2010-16), Jim Thorpe’s 61 (from 2014-20) and Northern Lehigh’s 61 (from 2007-12).

Speaking of Christopher, the senior scored four touchdowns on Friday, and in doing so upped his season scoring to 106 points. A year ago, he also topped the 100-point mark finishing with 124. He’s just the third Tigers player to record back-to-back seasons of 100-or-more points. Harry Hall actually had three straight years (2013-2015) accomplishing the feat, while the other one to do it was Christopher’s current head coach - Josh Snyder - who reached three digits in points in both 1996 and 1997.

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KICKOFF SELL-ABRATION

... Tamaqua’s Damon Sell had an important kickoff return last Friday in his team’s win over Pine Grove.

Sell raced 90 yards with the second-half kick, which extended a narrow 7-0 halftime lead to 13-0.

Over the previous 30 seasons, the Blue Raiders have had only four other kickoff returns for touchdowns of 90 yards or more.

They include Matt Kistler (94 on Sept. 20, 2019), Dalton Nunemacher (95 on Sept. 14, 2012), Josh Zukus (95 on Sept. 1, 2006) and John Boyer (94 on Sept. 30, 1994).

In addition to the kickoff return, Tamaqua has failed to allow one this year or last year - the only area team that can make that claim.

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GROUND GAME ... Northern Lehigh defeated Notre Dame last weekend, using its ground game to help produce the win.

The Bulldogs ran the ball 67 times in their victory, which produced 344 yards.

Over the past 25 years - a total of 296 games - the 67 rushing attempts are the most by a Northern Lehigh team. The closest amount to that total over that time span is 62 carries on Nov. 8, 1997 against Springfield-Montco. Brian Gallagher had the most rushes in that game for the Bulldogs with 28, followed by Steve Hluschak with 18.